Metal recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries via two-step bioleaching using adapted chemolithotrophs from an acidic mine pit lake

Lalropuia Lalropuia; Jiri Kucera; Wadih Y Rassy; Eva Pakostova; Dominik Schild; Martin Mandl; Klemens Kremser; Georg M Guebitz

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1347072

Metal recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries via two-step bioleaching using adapted chemolithotrophs from an acidic mine pit lake

Front Microbiol. 2024 Jan 30:15:1347072. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1347072. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Lalropuia Lalropuia¹, Jiri Kucera², Wadih Y Rassy^{3

4}, Eva Pakostova⁵, Dominik Schild³, Martin Mandl², Klemens Kremser⁶, Georg M Guebitz⁶

Affiliations

¹ K1-MET GmbH, Linz, Austria.
² Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia.
³ Department of Science and Technology, Institute of Biotechnology, IMC University of Applied Sciences, Krems, Austria.
⁴ Faculty of Technical Chemistry, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria.
⁵ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Agrobiotechnology, IFA-Tulln, Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna BOKU, Tulln an der Donau, Austria.

Abstract

The demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has dramatically increased in recent years due to their application in various electronic devices and electric vehicles (EVs). Great amount of LIB waste is generated, most of which ends up in landfills. LIB wastes contain substantial amounts of critical metals (such as Li, Co, Ni, Mn, and Cu) and can therefore serve as valuable secondary sources of these metals. Metal recovery from the black mass (shredded spent LIBs) can be achieved via bioleaching, a microbiology-based technology that is considered to be environmentally friendly, due to its lower costs and energy consumption compared to conventional pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy. However, the growth and metabolism of bioleaching microorganisms can be inhibited by dissolved metals. In this study, the indigenous acidophilic chemolithotrophs in a sediment from a highly acidic and metal-contaminated mine pit lake were enriched in a selective medium containing iron, sulfur, or both electron donors. The enriched culture with the highest growth and oxidation rate and the lowest microbial diversity (dominated by Acidithiobacillus and Alicyclobacillus spp. utilizing both electron donors) was then gradually adapted to increasing concentrations of Li⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Cu²⁺. Finally, up to 100% recovery rates of Li, Co, Ni, Mn, and Al were achieved via two-step bioleaching using the adapted culture, resulting in more effective metal extraction compared to bioleaching with a non-adapted culture and abiotic control.

Keywords: acidic mine pit lake; bacterial adaptation; bioleaching; black mass; lithium-ion batteries; metal recovery; microbial enrichment.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research received funding from the module FuLIBatteR which is supported by COMET (Competence Center for Excellent Technologies), the Austrian program for competence centres. COMET is funded by the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, the Federal Ministry for Labour and Economy, the Federal States of Upper Austria, and Styria as well as the Styrian Business Promotion Agency (SFG). Furthermore, Upper Austrian Research GmbH continuously supports K1-MET. Besides the public funding from COMET, this research project FuLIBatteR is partially financed by the scientific partners acib GmbH, Coventry University, Montanuniversitaet Leoben, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, UVR-FIA GmbH, and the industrial partners AUDI AG, BRAIN Biotech AG, Ebner Industrieofenbau GmbH, RHI Magnesita GmbH, Saubermacher Dienstleistungs AG, TÜV SÜD Landesgesellschaft Österreich GmbH, VTU Engineering GmbH and voestalpine High Performance Metals GmbH. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. This research was also funded by a subsidy for the development of the research institution and by the Masaryk University Program, project no. MUNI/A/1313/2022.